Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) have many advantages over conventional light sources, such as incandescent, halogen and fluorescent lamps. These advantages include longer operating life, lower power consumption, and smaller size. Consequently, conventional light sources are increasingly being replaced with LEDs in traditional lighting applications. As an example, LEDs are currently being used in flashlights, camera flashes, traffic signal lights, automotive taillights and display devices.
Two prevalent types of LED form factors are surface-mount LEDs and thru-hole LEDs. Surface-mount LEDs are desirable for applications which require a low LED profile. Among the various packages for surface-mount LEDs, an LED package of interest is the Plastic Leaded Chip Carrier (PLCC) package. Surface mount LEDs in PLCC packages may be used, for example, in automotive interior display devices, electronic signs and signals, and electrical equipment.
While PLCC packages are well designed for a single light source, they pose some challenges and limitations for multi-source applications (e.g., RGB lighting). First, PLCC packages are limited in their ability to tune and modulate the radiation pattern via the surrounding plastic-molded reflector housing. Second, PLCC packages are limited in their ability to increase luminous intensity on a targeted viewing angle due to no direct effective reflector being in close proximity to the light source. Third, the incorporation of reflector cups for RGB lighting will incur a significant increase in the package form factor, which will, in turn, lower the display resolution.